


crimson connection

by tougenkyous



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Background Relationships, Daiyui Week 2015, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Implied Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Implied Kikuchi Moe/Manami Aoki, Mutual Pining, Red String of Fate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-04 08:45:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5327903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tougenkyous/pseuds/tougenkyous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p>A fine thread of crimson that no one else could see — what <i>is</i> the purpose of it?</p>
</blockquote><br/>Or: Soulmates exist, and Yui learns what they are.
            </blockquote>





	crimson connection

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who's 70 years late into the DaiYui party without a venti-sized Starbucks cup.
> 
> This is my entry for [DaiYui Week](http://daiyuiweek.tumblr.com/) hosted by the lovely [Sara](http://archiveofourown.org/users/whitemiists/)! For Day 6's prompt, 'something red'. At first I wanted to write death and destruction, but I decided to try and experiment with a soulmates AU. I've always wanted to write a soulmates AU anyway and this idea has been in my mind for a long time.
> 
> The first chapter is 80% of interactions between Yui and other characters and 20% DaiYui, though. I swear there will be at least 80% of DaiYui next chapter. I'm not sure if I did them justice, so I want to apologize in advance for any possible OOC-ness or potential mistakes. ;; DaiYui can be very hard to write, what with how little screen time they get and how little canon materials there are on their relationship.
> 
> Side note: This fic contains background Aoki/Kikuchi and AsaNoya.
> 
> Thank you, [KC](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ultears), for being my beta. (o^^o) ♥

It starts at the age of seven.

It’s one morning, when her mother walks her to middle school for the first time and Yui clings onto her mother’s arm with every ounce of energy she has, eyebrows scrunched and lips pursed tightly in nervousness, that she sees it. While (hesitantly) saying goodbye to her mother, Yui catches sight of a girl not far away from where they are, and immediately her eyes start to follow her.

Not because she is pretty (although Yui wouldn’t say the girl _isn’t_ pretty), but because there is a red string tied to her pinkie finger.

Yui is enamoured. She has seen the red yarns her mother used to knit her a scarf last Christmas, so red strings aren’t something new for her. Red strings on someone’s finger, however, is a different story. While she finds herself enamoured, there is _something_ odd about it that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

She points at the girl and asks her mother. “Mama, why is there a red string tied to that girl’s finger?”

“Yui, it’s rude to point at people!” Her mother chides, gently pushing Yui’s hand away. She follows Yui’s line of sight and raises a brow. “What do you mean red string?”

“The red string!” Yui repeats, her eyes following the girl, how the string flows along with her movements, and it’s only then she notices that the red string is long. In fact, it’s _too_ _long_ — the string goes up the road, into a secluded corner at the right of a building, and Yui wonders if the other end of the string is also tied to someone’s pinkie finger.

“But what red string?” Her mother’s face is nothing short of confusion. She turns to look at her daughter with a softened expression. “Yui, dear, is it your imagination?”

“Mama, you can’t see it?” Yui looks up at her mother, amber eyes widening in wonder.

Her mother shakes her head. “There’s no red string, Yui. I think you’re just seeing things.”

No matter how much she tries to convince her mother about the red string on the girl’s finger, her mother continues to insist she couldn’t see it. It’s rather uncanny; Yui is a hundred percent _sure_ there is a red string tied to the girl’s finger.

Even as the girl walks away, the red string faithfully clings onto her pinkie finger; the seemingly endless thread following her from behind. It’s a thin, bright crimson. There is no way Yui’s eyes are tricking her.

The red string soon slips Yui’s mind when she enters her classroom.

 

* * *

♠ ♠ ♠

* * *

 

The second time she sees it, it’s in her second year of middle school.

It’s on a morning, fifteen minutes past ten when the class president walks into the class with tousled hair and ragged breaths, a piece of paper crumpled in his hands. Apparently, they are to get a new homeroom teacher as their former one had resorted to retirement.

Yui hums, chewing on the cap of her pen, barely listening to the class president pleading for the whole class to give a good impression as she stares out of the window besides her. There is the faint sound of footsteps approaching their classroom, and Yui turns when the door to their classroom slides open.

She almost drops her pen.

The homeroom teacher isn’t alone. The extremely good-looking nurse from the infirmary is trailing behind her, too, but that isn’t what made Yui drop her pen.

It’s thin, and it blends in with the surroundings, but Yui sees it — a red string tied to the pinkie of their new homeroom teacher. The other end of the thread is, this time, tied to the pinkie of the nurse.

“Alright, settle down now,” the new homeroom teacher says to the whole class, sending stern gazes in the ways of the students making noises. “You wouldn’t want to scare away Hoshizuki-sensei here.”

The school nurse laughs, all breathy. “I think it would be the reverse, no, Kimura-sensei?”

Suddenly, Yui finds her focus on the two. She _does_ sort of feel like she might be looking into something too much, like she is barging into someone’s privacy, but she can’t help it — there is something about the homeroom teacher and the nurse, _something_ about the red string shared by their pinkie fingers. She has a distant feeling she knows the connection, but she can’t say for sure.

“Psst,” Yui calls out to her friend sitting next to her. “Nana?”

Her friend turns to her. “Hm?”

“Can you see the red string tied to their pinkie fingers?” Yui asks, inclining her head towards the teachers at the classroom door.

With a brow raised, her friend follows her line of sight, and then looks back at her with a puzzled expression. “What red string?”

“You mean you can’t see it?” Yui widens her eyes, blinking.

“There’s no red string, Yui,” her friend says almost unamusedly. “Are you pulling my leg here?”

“Ah, it’s nothing like that!” Yui quickly says, looking apologetic. “Sorry, maybe it’s just my imagination.”

Yui finds herself at the receiving end of a strange look, but thankfully her friend allows the matter to be dropped. She looks back at her new homeroom teacher and the school nurse, who are completely distracted by their own conversation and soon, they’re exchanging laughters. Her gaze falls on the red string connecting the two of them. It’s unsettling that seemingly no one else but her could see it, but it doesn’t seem threatening. Still, Yui can’t understand the symbolism of the string. What _does_ it mean, she wonders.

When the whole class erupts with noises again, their new homeroom teacher hastily snaps out of her conversation with the school nurse and quickly reverts back to her austere facade. Class is conducted shortly, but Yui’s attention is on the red string that clings onto the homeroom teacher’s pinkie the entire time.

☆

It’s about one month later that Yui hears from a couple of her classmates of a rumor circling around, about how their new homeroom teacher has started dating the school nurse, much to the dismay of many of the female students.

Yui doesn’t give much thought to the rumor (after all, it’s a rumor for a reason) until she catches a glimpse of her new homeroom teacher with the school nurse in the infirmary one afternoon, their hands in each other’s, fingers intertwined and bound by the red string still.

And from that, she has a feeling she knows the symbolism behind the red string.

 

* * *

♠ ♠ ♠

* * *

 

The third time is shortly after high school has started for her.

Yui learns that romance is a hot topic among high school teenagers. Not that she doesn’t know about it in the first place (and it _definitely_ isn’t thanks to the romance novels she has vehemently denied liking for a year), but she doesn’t expect for it to be on par with studies in majority of the students’ priorities. About only a week into her high school life, she is already surrounded by couples, subjected to their tendencies for public display affection.

She joins the girls’ volleyball club after an interest in the sport was sparked from watching the boys play and lands the position of wing spiker. Four practice sessions later and Yui learns that she has the skills for spiking the ball.

High school is, overall, a different environment from middle school for Yui, but there are things that stayed the same — the trees that bloom with cherry blossoms during spring, the school uniforms, the noisy students in her class, and there is also Sawamura Daichi.

Yui is surprised to find out Sawamura came to Karasuno, too. It makes her feel somewhat at ease; at least she has an old friend with her, even if they are in different classes. Sawamura joins the boys’ volleyball club, and he is also partly why Yui has decided to pick up volleyball as well. She reminisces the first time she saw him spike the ball, how hard he worked to keep the ball in the air, when she stepped into the gym; it was an admirable sight.

Yui wants to be a player like him, too.

She dutifully attends every practice session. She gets along with her teammates, and her captain is a spunky girl in her third year. They keep her busy to the point she almost forgets romance is even a thing many high school students are into, until her teammates approach her in the changing room one afternoon, just before practice starts.

“So, _Michimiya_ ,” Aoki begins, the cheeky grin on her face widening with each word. “Are you into Sawamura by any chance?”

“H-Huh—!?” Yui squeaks. “W-Where did that conclusion come from!?”

“I was just wondering, since you mentioned you went to the same middle school as him,” Aoki giggles against her palm.

“Eh, _really_? Michimiya, you like him?” Sudou chimes in with a look of awe. “For how long now?”

“I-It’s not like that! Jeez, guys,” Yui says, feeling her cheeks burn. She hasn’t considered Sawamura as an option before, but she is flustered all the same. “He and I are just friends. We used to hang out sometimes.”

“Hey, whether or not Yui likes him is her business, you know,” Mao says, gently flicking at Aoki’s forehead. “Pity her a little.”

“We’re just curious,” Aoki says, rubbing at her forehead, and pouts.

Their conversation is interrupted by the sound of the changing room’s door being opened. Kikuchi steps in with a bunch of towels in her hands. “Practice is starting soon,” she announces.

And then Yui sees it — the familiar, thin red thread, and this time it’s dangling from Aoki’s pinkie finger. She has to blink twice to make sure she isn’t seeing things, because she's more than sure that the red string wasn’t there before. She follows the length of the thread to see what, or who, the other end is connected to — and her eyes land on Kikuchi’s pinkie finger.

It’s all Yui takes to not gasp.

“Kikuchi!” Aoki’s eyes light up. “I thought you weren’t coming to practice today!”

“I couldn’t leave you guys alone,” Kikuchi explains, giggling timidly. “And besides, I _did_ sign up for this club, didn’t I?“

Yui blinks again to confirm again that she isn’t seeing things — there really is a red thread connecting both Aoki and Kikuchi. Even if this is the third time she has seen it, it’s still a sight she has yet to get used to.

"Yui?”

Mao’s voice snaps Yui out of her own thoughts, making her flinch in the process. “Y-Yeah?” She asks.

“Are you okay?” Mao asks back, raising a brow. “You looked as if you saw something out of ordinary.”

“Um,” Yui averts Mao’s gaze, trying to find the right words to articulate what she wants to say. “Mao, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Can you see the red string connecting Aoki and Kikuchi?”

“ _Huh_?” Mao looks at Yui, and then at the girls in question, and then back at her. “I don’t see any red string.”

Yui bites her lower lip. “No, it’s… nevermind.”

“Really?” Mao shoots her a concerned look. “If there’s something bothering you, you could always talk to me about it.”

“It’s no big deal, really!” Yui reassures her. She takes a moment to consider Mao’s offer, though. It _might_ be a big deal, especially since this is the third time and no one else seems to be able to see the red strings she has seen. Maybe it’s better if she consults in someone about it. “I’ll tell you later, I promise.”

“Just take your time,” Mao says, giving her a pat on the back.

Yui nods. Her eyes soon find their way to Aoki and Kikuchi once again, following the red thread they’re bound by; how it bounces along with Aoki’s enthusiastic movements, and how oblivious they seem to be of the red string. It’s almost as if Yui possesses some sort of weird ability to see it.

Practice starts right after, and Yui couldn’t count with her fingers how many times she has missed the ball due to being distracted by the red string.

☆

“So, you’re trying to say,” Mao says very carefully, emphasizing on each word. “That you can see red strings on people’s pinkie fingers.”

Yui nods, albeit a bit awkwardly thanks to Mao shooting her suspicious looks. “I know it sounds unbelievable, but I saw them. It’s not the first time, either.”

“And the last time you saw the string, the people who were bound by it got together?”

Yui nods again.

Shutting her eyes for brief seconds, Mao goes deep into thought. “I’ll admit, it sounds kind of unbelievable,” she pauses to glance over her shoulders at Kikuchi and Aoki, who are chattering away at one corner of the gym. “But then again, there _are_ lots of things out there that can’t be explained.”

“It’s alright. I don’t expect anyone to believe me,” Yui laughs awkwardly. “I mean, maybe it’s just me.”

“There’s a word for this,” Mao says. “The string you said you could see, I mean. I think it’s called the ‘red string of fate’ or something.”

“The red string of fate,” Yui repeats the words, relishing in how foreign and new the words feel on her tongue. “A string that binds people by fate?”

Mao shrugs “Something along the lines of that.”

_Are Kikuchi and Aoki bound by fate, then?_

She couldn’t bring herself to ask aloud the question. If the string is to indicate who’s fatefully bound to who, why is it that Yui is able to see them, then?

The conversation drops, but Yui is deep in her thoughts, and she wonders if the string means something for Aoki and Kikuchi.

☆

“You know, I noticed Kikuchi has been trying her best lately,” Aoki says, sipping from the straw of her mango milk carton.

“Really?” Yui’s attention is caught, but she pretends to not know anything.

“Yeah, really. I mean, I guess we _all_ slack sometimes, but Kikuchi used to be so afraid to hit the ball. Now she’s started to give her best. She can hit the ball without hesitation now,” Aoki explains. “I mean, she still has a lot to learn, but you can sense the growing determination in her.”

“Mm, is that so…” Yui says. She remembers the red string she sees earlier, and this time she can’t resist the urge anymore. “Hey, Aoki?”

“Hm?”

“What is Kikuchi to you?” Yui asks. When she realizes how odd her question must have sounded, she quickly clarifies her words. “I-I mean—! You two seem to get along really well, so I, um, wondered—!”

“Oh,” Aoki looks dumbfounded. “Well, uh,” she starts, looking at the ground and scratching her cheek. “I guess… she’s a best friend?”

“You _guess_?”

“Sometimes she’s a best friend,” Aoki elaborates. “Other times, she’s… how do I phrase this?” She taps her chin and narrows her brows in wonder. “She’s more than a best friend.”

Yui widens her eyes. “So… you mean, like, a lover?”

“I wouldn’t say that. I mean, we’re technically not dating, but,” Aoki makes a frustrated noise under her breath. “It’s so hard to explain! I wouldn’t be surprise if people thought we _were_ dating, though. We’ve been sticking around each other since high school started. Kikuchi is someone who understands me,” she says. “I guess…”

Aoki’s next words overwhelm Yui with an indescribable feeling.

“I guess the easiest way to put this would be that she’s my soulmate.”

☆

Almost five weeks later, it’s made known that Aoki and Kikuchi have started dating.

While the whole team is surprised and and has stated flooding them with cheers and encouragement, Yui can’t say she didn’t see it coming.

 

* * *

♠ ♠ ♠

* * *

 

The fourth time is when she is in her second year and finds an opportunity to get to know more about the boys’ volleyball team.

They’re an ebullient bunch. Even more so compared to her own team, that has noticeably degraded in terms of skills and teamwork. Everyone, even the captain, is busy with studies and wants to spend their free time on fun rather than practice (which Yui doesn’t blame them for, of course; it’s understandable, no matter how disappointing it may be).

Yui acquaints well with the second years of the team. There's Sawamura, whom she has good relations with since middle school. There's Sugawara, Sawamura’s best friend who has a laid-back personality. There's Asahi, who is actually pretty considerate and nice despite his yankee looks. Finally, there's Shimizu, the extremely gorgeous manager. Sawamura had told her all about them at one point before, so she's pretty familiar with their antics.

“You’re Michimiya, right?” Sugawara approaches her with an extended hand. “Daichi told me a lot about you.”

“S-Suga!” Sawamura cuts in, slightly panicked.

“Did he?” Yui giggles, reaching out to shake his hand. “You’re Sugawara, then? Sawamura has told me about you as well.

"Not you, too, Michimiya!”

“ _Oh_ , so Daichi is the type to gossip,” Sugawara throws in Sawamura’s way a mischievous grin and a wiggle of the eyebrows.

“Alright, now, let’s drop the matter,” Sawamura says with flushed cheeks. He clears his throat. “Anyway, Michimiya, you’re welcome to come and watch us practice anytime.”

“You’re one of the wing spikers of the girls’ team, right?” Asahi asks. “That’s amazing.”

“Thanks,” Yui rubs the back of her neck, Asahi’s compliment eliciting another giggle from her. “We’ve been kind of slacking, though.”

“Something wrong?” Sawamura asks concernedly.

“No, it’s just, you know, studies,” Yui shrugs. “Upcoming midterms and homework.”

A blow of the whistle interrupts their conversation, followed by the loud squeaking of sneakers against the floorboards. The four of them shift their attention to the court, where the first years have already started practice.

"Where’s Nishinoya?”

Asahi’s question arouses looks from both Sawamura and Sugawara.

“Now that you’ve mentioned it, I haven’t seen him anywhere today,” Sawamura ponders.

“He’s probably running around again,” Sugawara chuckles. “Give him time, he’ll be here soon.”

And almost immediately after Sugawara says that, the door to the gym springs open, halting the practice and freezing the players where they stand. A short figure makes his way into the gym almost grandly, and Yui can hear Sugawara tittering beside her.

“Speak of the _devil_ ,” Sugawara mumbles amusedly.

“Sorry, I was late!” The newcomer, whom Yui thinks is the person Asahi mentioned, announces. “Did I miss practice?”

“Noya-san, you came just in time!” Tanaka yells with zest from the court.

“Right when we need a libero,” Ennoshita chuckles.

“Count me in, then!” Nishinoya says enthusiastically, pumping his fists. He quickly turns to Asahi with a Cheshire-like grin. "Asahi-san, will you be joining?

In that moment, there is the familiar thin line of red that Yui doesn’t — _couldn’t_ miss even out of the corner of her eyes. The red thread flows almost gracefully from Nishinoya and Asahi’s fingers. It may be Yui’s fourth time seeing it, but she’s baffled all the same by the thread’s sudden appearance.

This time, though, she manages to stay composed about it.

"Ah, I’ll be joining in a bit,” Asahi smiles. “You go ahead first, Nishinoya.”

“Don’t stray in practice again like last time!” Nishinoya jabs a finger at Asahi’s chin. “You _better_ give it your all later, you got that!”

His words elicits a rather apologetic-sounding laugh from Asahi. “I will.”

Yui observes them almost intently, and her eyes stalk the crimson thread binding the duo. Does this mean they will end up together sooner or later? Does this mean they’re in love? Or—

—does this mean they’re soulmates.

“Michimiya?” Sugawara’s calls out to her, and Yui’s shoulders jerk. “Are you okay?”

“I— I’m okay,” Yui says with a reassuring smile. “Sorry, I was just spacing out!”

It should be something that’s common for her by now. She has been seeing the red string of fate since middle school, even if it appears only on its own occasion. She sneaks looks at the other third years — none of them seem to have noticed the red string on Asahi and Nishinoya’s fingers. It’s only her once again.

“They get along really well, don’t they?” Yui blurts out.

“Yeah,” Sawamura says. “You almost never see them apart from one another whenever they’re on the court. They’re a synchronized duo.”

Yui wonders if what Sawamura said has a connection to the red string. Now that she’s thinking on a deeper level of it, all the red strings she has seen were between two people who shared a very good relationship. Is the red string’s purpose to inform their caged feelings? It isn’t easy to let your feelings flow past your lips, especially toward the person you like, after all, so maybe… just _maybe_ —

“Oh my _god_ ,” she mutters to herself under her breath and pinches her own cheek. Why is she thinking about this? It makes her feel as if she’s looking into something that should be private.

“Michimiya, what’s wrong?” Sawamura asks again. “You’ve been looking troubled since we came here.”

“I’m okay, Sawamura, really!” Yui says quickly. _Crap_ , she thinks to herself. She must have looked really suspicious, making faces and talking to herself like that. “I’m just overthinking some… things…!”

The concern in Sawamura’s eyes doesn’t go away. “I see. Uh,” he scratches at a cheek. “Can we talk somewhere, Michimiya?”

Yui blinks. “S-Sure!”

Sawamura inclines for her to follow him with a wave of the hand, and they step out of the gym towards a more secluded spot just behind the bushes near the building. Yui feels a wave of nervousness washing over her. Maybe she seemed more suspicious than she expected.

“Michimiya,” Sawamura’s voice makes her flinch where she stands and she straightens her back. It isn’t stern, though. She can tell it’s heavily laced with worry. “Are you okay? I mean, well…” he rubs the back of his neck, awkward. “You mentioned your team has been slacking.”

“Oh,” is all Yui could manage. Relief washes over her, but she holds back the sigh in her throat. Thank god. “It’s alright, Sawamura! I can manage,” she says reassuringly and smiles wide, but that smile is quick to dissolve and she adds in a smaller voice, “I think.”

“You _think_ ,” he says, his voice now stern. “You shouldn’t be so easy on them, Michimiya. Think of yourself for the sake of your team, too.”

"I know,” Yui replies meekly. She can’t exactly deny she’s guilty of letting her members do whatever they want instead of pushing them, even if she isn’t the captain. She has scrapped all thoughts on trying to reprimand her teammates because she doesn’t want to make herself seem like she’s in charge. “It’s just…” she trails off. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind next time.”

“Do it your pace, Michimiya. You’re the captain. I’m sure you’re capable of it,” Sawamura smiles.

“Thanks,” Yui says, his words causing a warmth to grow in her chest. “Thanks a lot for your concern, Sawamura.”

“What’s a friend for?” Sawamura chuckles and reaches out to pat Yui on the back. “You have me to come to if you’re ever down in the dumps.”

Yui _swears_ her heart leaps to her throat. She also feels her heart skip a beat — something she didn’t expect to happen. It’s sudden, and it hits her like a hurricane, filling her chest with a feeling she isn’t sure how to put into words, and she doesn’t know how or why. She turns to look at Sawamura, her face burning hot that she thinks she might just come down with a fever on the spot.

“T… Thanks,” she stutters, blinking when Sawamura blinks at her.

“Michimiya, are you okay?” He asks, for probably the umpteenth time today and _god_ does Yui feel bad for worrying him so much now. “Your face is red. Are you not feeling well?”

“I'm— I’m good!” Yui takes a few steps back and tries to laugh it off. “I-It’s just, um, the weather, probably. You know. It’s been _so_ hot lately!”

Sawamura eyes her. Yui wishes she could just disappear into thin air.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the infirma—”

“ _I’m good_ —!”

She wants nothing more than to slap herself right there and then. What had gotten into her? Up until now, Sawamura has been but a good friend to her and it has always been that way. Him being this concerned about her isn’t anything new — he has always been this kind a person, after all.

So why is it that she suddenly finds it difficult to event her heartbeat?

“Alright, if you say so. Let’s go back to the gym, then,” Sawamura says, and then he grins at her. “Let’s give it our all in practice today, yeah?”

“Y-Yeah…”

She doesn’t follow him this time, though, leaving herself where she stands as she watches Sawamura head back into the gym.

It’s all but a moment of silence before Yui breaks it by slapping her cheeks. Her skin is hot against her palms, a sure sign she is still burning up. She feels _dumb_. She has never reacted this way to Sawamura’s touch before.

 _Is this what they call a sign of puberty?_ She thinks to herself ridiculously. This is unexpected, and she doesn’t think it could be a possible case of _crush._  Not especially when—

She quickly gazes down at her fingers and observes the back and front of her hand. No red string. Nothing red. _Huh_ , she thinks in relief. Maybe she really is just overreacting.

Or at least she hopes so.

☆

Yui isn’t surprised when she and the rest of the third years walk in on Nishinoya pecking Asahi on the lips in the gym two weeks after.

Even less so when Asahi nervously confesses that he has started dating Nishinoya a week ago.

 

* * *

♠ ♠ ♠

* * *

 

The fifth time is when she is in the last semester of her second year of high school.

Spring brings forth and Yui is happy because spring means that she gets to see the withered trees at their school entrance bloom with cherry blossoms. She has always loved cherry blossoms, and what makes it even better is the fact that spring symbolizes a new start, and in a way she thinks it has a likely connection the cherry blossoms.

Her team has started picking up practices, too. Their captain is going to leave very soon, so she wants to make sure everyone is in shape for the incoming year. Yui is more than glad to see that her teammates have started taking the club seriously again, and she only hopes this keeps up.

It slips Yui’s mind that things don’t go as smoothly for some people.

Aoki barges into the changing room one afternoon, clearly infuriated, startling the rest of their teammates. She stomps towards one of the benches in the room and sits down on it before she buries her face in her hands.

None of them has ever seen Aoki like this before; tired, frustrated and distressed. She has one of the bubbliest personalities around here, and is almost always full of smiles. It has never crossed Yui’s mind that Aoki is capable of being rendered such state.

Yui notices the red string that remains faithfully connected to Aoki’s pinkie finger, and it’s then she realizes that Kikuchi is absent. The red thread on Aoki’s finger extends to outside the changing room, to probably wherever Kikuchi currently is within the school.

“U-Um… is something wrong?” Chizuru asks, after the entire room has resorted to silence. Aoki doesn’t answer her; doesn’t even do so much as to raise her head and look at her, and when the silence grows uncanny, Mao steps in.

“Uh, hey, Aoki, is everything okay?”

And then Aoki _sobs_ , alarming nearly everyone in the room.

“It’s just—” she begins, and Yui could see the streaks of tears that stream down her hands. “— _I don’t know_! Kikuchi and I had a fight and I just—”

 _Oh_ , Yui thinks. That explains Kikuchi’s absence now.

“A-Ah, slow down; don’t force yourself to talk fast,” Watabe hushes Aoki with a comforting pat on the back. “Why did you guys fight?”

“K-Kikuchi said—” she hiccups, “—she’s going away to Tokyo after graduation. I know it’s selfish of me, b-but I don’t want her to leave and…!”

The sounds of muffled sobs echo throughout the room; the red string dangling each time Aoki moves her hands against her face.

“Are you worried about losing touch with her?” Yui tries to comfort Aoki. “I mean, uh, there’s always… emails and letters! Right?”

Aoki shakes her head. “It… it’s not that,” she sniffles. “I’m afraid.”

“Afraid?”

“Afraid of losing her,” she finally admits. “S-She’ll be in Tokyo for five years and she said she doesn’t think she’ll have time to come back and visit during that period.”

“Hey, she’s your girlfriend, isn’t she?” Mao says gently, joining Watabe in patting Aoki on the back. “Trust her a little more.”

“I do trust—” another hiccup, “—her, but you can’t guarantee anything, right? Things change, people will change. What if she changes and we grow distant? I…” she sobs again. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to handle that…!”

While Yui finds it hard to sympathize with Aoki (she has never been a relationship before, after all), a feeling tugs at her, telling her that, somehow, there is no need for Aoki to worry at all, that Aoki is just crying over a glass of milk that will never spill. Yui isn’t sure where the feeling came from, but she feels it with certainty.

She approaches Aoki.

“Hey, Aoki?” Yui says, but Aoki still refuses to raise her head. “Aoki, is it okay if you show me your face?”

Aoki doesn’t answer, only continues sobbing, and Yui takes in a huge breath.

“A—o— _ki_ —!”

Yui pulls away the hands Aoki is covering her face with and slightly adjusts her position by the hands so that she is finally looking up at her. Aoki blinks in confusion, snot at the corner of her nose, and Yui look into her eyes firmly.

“As your fellow teammate and friend, I’m telling to not worry too much.” And then, Yui gives Aoki the widest smile she could muster. “Things will be okay between you and Kikuchi. There’s nothing to worry about!” She lets go of Aoki’s hands and reaches out to gently ruffle her hair, much like what a senior would do to a junior. “I have faith in you both, you know.”

Before Aoki could say anything, Mao steps in.

“Yui is right. There’s nothing to worry about, Aoki. Have more faith in your relationship with Kikuchi.”

“Yeah! I’m sure it will work out somehow,” Chizuru chimes in as well.

“Talk to her, Aoki,” Yui says, looking into Aoki’s eyes once again. “Trust her with your feelings! She’s your soulmate, after all.”

There is a moment of silence, and the shocked expression on Aoki’s face is soon washed away by the tears that drip down her cheeks once again. Aoki sniffles and bites back a sob, looking hesitant for a moment, and it takes moments for her to finally respond with a small nod.

Yui smiles.

☆

When club activities are done with, Yui decides to spend some time at the stairs of a shrine nearby her school instead of going home. It’s evening by the time they’re finished; it’s the first time she decides to stay out late instead of going home when the sky has darkened.

It’s the second time that she has said aloud the word “soulmate”. The word is still foreign to her, and she isn’t used to the way it lingers at the tip of her tongue. If she has to be honest, even the concept of it is foreign to her. She had heard her mother mention the word once when she was young, and her middle school friends loved throwing the word around whenever they talked about _shoujo manga_ , but other than that she has absolutely no idea what is in store for the word.

All she knows that soulmates are supposedly identified by the red string of fate.

It piques her curiosity; she wants to learn more about this word.

Yui is so absorbed in her own thoughts that she hasn’t noticed the growing silhouette in front of her, and when the sound of footsteps hits her ears, she immediately looks up — only to find none other than Sawamura, looking up at her at the end of the stairs.

“Michimiya?”

“S-Sawamura…!?” Yui gapes. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you going home?”

“I could ask you the same,” Sawamura says, and Yui couldn’t help but to laugh.

“Guess we’re on the same boat, then,” she grins.

Sawamura smiles back. For the next few minutes, silence fills the gap between them, but it doesn’t make Yui comfortable in the slightest — in fact, she feels at ease; this soothing silence shared with a good friend. They stay like that, with Sawamura looking at the road up ahead and Yui looking up at the night sky decorated with only a few amount of stars, until he breaks the silence first.

“So, uh,” Sawamura begins, and Yui looks down at him again. “I wonder, uh, if you’d fancy the idea of catching up with old times?”

There is another silence, and then Yui giggles.

“I thought we’d already done enough of that!”

“I suppose so,” Sawamura giggles, too. “May I sit beside you?”

She blinks. “Go ahead.”

At her cue, Sawamura climbs up the stairs to where Yui is sitting and plops himself down beside her. And then they're silent again.

For some reason, Yui likes this peaceful moment between them — them sitting in silence with only a word or two to say to each other, admiring the night sky and feeling oddly soothed. And from the looks of Sawamura, he appears to feel the same way as well. It’s been awhile since she has such a moment with a friend.

Then, it hits her that she is currently _alone_ with Sawamura. Yui is nonplussed upon realization at first, and it takes moments before her cheeks start to flare up a light shade of pink that doesn’t last for more than a few seconds, thankfully.

“So,” she says, in an attempt to distract herself from said realization. “How is it going with your team?”

“Oh, we’re doing fine,” Sawamura answers, eyes still fixated on the night sky. “Our captain is retiring soon, though.”

Yui nods. “It’s the same with our captain.”

She thinks about what has happened earlier today regarding Aoki and Kikuchi, and then sneaks a glance at Sawamura, who seems to be enjoying the night sky, judging from the contented smile on his face. Yui is torn on whether or not to ask him about what she wants to know; she holds back at first and tries to focus on the night sky as well, but it sticks to her chest like an octopus, and she knows it’s best to get it off her chest before anything.

“Hey, Sawamura?” She begins. “Can I ask you something?”

He continues to gaze at the sky. “What is it?”

“This is probably a weird question, but… what’s a soulmate?”

Her question seems to catch Sawamura off guard. He immediately shifts his attention to her, looking puzzled. Yui suddenly feels awkward. Is the question too weird, after all? Should she not have asked?

“Well, it’s rather hard to explain in words,” Sawamura makes vague hand gestures to try and articulate his struggle. “A soulmate is someone you feel is... connected to you by soul, I guess."

“So, is it… like a friend? Or is it more like a lover?”

“Well, I suppose it’s like a best friend, but more,” he explains. “It’s that one person in the world who knows you better than anyone else.”

Yui listens, her awe growing with each word Sawamura says.

“It’s someone who makes you a better person,” he continues. “Actually, I think you do that yourself, but that’s because they inspire you to do so.”

“Someone who makes you a better person…” Yui repeats the words to herself under her breath.

“A soulmate is someone you carry with you forever. It’s that one person who knew you, accepted you and believed in you before anyone else did, or when no one else would.”

He pauses for a bit, and Yui stares at him, wordlessly urging for him to continue because she has a faint feeling that he isn't done with his explanation.

Then and there, Sawamura flashes her a gentle smile she doesn’t even know he’s capable of; the grey clouds part, the moonlight slowly cast itself on him — and the sight makes Yui’s breath hitch.

His next words would engrave themselves in her mind for the rest of her life.

“And no matter what happens, you’ll always love them.”

**Author's Note:**

> The girls’ volleyball teammates’ names are official, in case you’re wondering! Their names can be found in the official Haikyuu!! guide book (translations of their names can be found [here](http://rheomochi.tumblr.com/post/131419878967/these-confused-fangirls-got-their-names-ujiie)). Since we don’t really see much of Yui’s teammates’ in the series, it's hard to know what kind of personality each of them possesses, so I decided to come up with ones I think would fit.
> 
> Yui has been shown to be closer to Mao and Chizuru, so she’s on first-name basis with them; the rest of the team she's on last-name basis with.  
> Fun fact: The Aoki/Kikuchi ship was actually impromptu. (笑)
> 
> The soulmate lines are quoted from [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj0RQz__Cfo)! I think it's a really beautiful explanation of the word and concept, and I wanted to try and show how Yui gradually comes to understand that. And I think those lines very much describe DaiYui in canon, too. When Yui is down in the dumps, Daichi is the one who knows and believes in her; he treasures her as a friend, and no matter what, he'd accept Yui as who she is. ♥
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
